It was a weird, wild weekend for tech fans, with CinemaNow restoring customer store credit on Friday night, AT&T going on the offensive over cell phone unlocking and Netflix cutting off developer access to its public API. Missed those stories? Fear not, we're kicking off the week with a recap of those and other tales from the world of tech, so read on...
The AT&T Public Policy Blog announced Friday that its customers have nothing to worry about with the recent Library of Congress decision to make cell phone unlocking illegal. That's because it's already the company's policy to unlock devices "if we have the unlock code or can reasonably get it from the manufacturer," assuming an account has been active for at least 60 days, is in good standing, has no unpaid balance and has fulfilled any service agreement commitment. While the first three conditions likely apply to most of us, the last one is generally the thorny one -- and certainly didn't help in the past with companies like Apple, whose iPhone was tightly locked down until a year or so ago.
Best Buy CinemaNow customers were relieved to discover that their missing store credit returned on Friday evening, almost exactly a week after it had vanished with no real explanation from the streaming provider. As we reported last week, the incident was initially blamed on a technical glitch, although the company's Facebook moderator had messaged at least one concerned customer about an ongoing fraud investigation. The only public acknowledgement of the problem finally appeared on the company's Facebook page Friday night: "Thanks everyone for your updates and your patience. We did identify the issue which had impacted some of our CinemaNow codes. We have made some technical modifications and the codes should now be working -- returning any missing credit to your account. If you are still experiencing any issues please follow up with us directly through Facebook." According to the Blu-ray.com message boards, a number of CinemaNow customers received free rental or purchase codes for their trouble throughout the week, so the incident doesn't appear to have been a total loss.
The Netflix API Developer Blog announced Friday that the streaming giant will no longer issue new public API developer keys, effectively killing the company's previous effort to grow a vibrant third-party app community around its service. "The changes… are designed to allow us to focus our API efforts on supporting the products and features used most by our members," announced Director of Engineering Daniel Jacobson. "They are also designed to allow us to continue to offer the public API program in a way that aligns with our goals." Although existing API keys will remain active, the changes also affect API affiliates and test environments, as well as the company's developer portal forums, which have now been locked as read-only. Netflix will also be retiring its OData catalog as of April 8, 2013.
At the end of January, an updated Apple TV popped up on the FCC radar which appeared to be using an A5X processor instead of the single-core A5 of the third-generation version. While Apple claimed the tweaked version was extremely modest, the news suggested that there might be more going on under the hood. According to MacRumors, all that's really happening is that Apple has found a way to shrink the original A5 processor, from 10.09mm x 12.15mm to an impressive 41 percent smaller at 8.19mm x 8.68mm. The process is known as a die-shrink, which previously appeared on the iPad 2 for the same chip as well. Although unconfirmed, the assumption is that the smaller A5 does not come from manufacturer Samsung but rather Taiwanese firm Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) -- a first for Apple's iOS-based devices, if so.
On the heels of a similar move by HTC, AppleInsider reported Sunday that Sony recently updated its Xperia Transfer software, making it easier for iPhone users to switch to one of the company's Android-powered smartphones. The software requires users to back up their iPhone using iTunes, then plug in a compatible Sony handset and use the Transfer Wizard feature to move contacts, text messages, calendar, notes, bookmarks, music and other media. The software is reportedly compatible with Sony's Xperia V, Xperia VC, Xperia TC, Xperia T, Xperia TL and latest Xperia Z line.
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